Blackhawks down - back in Montana where they belong!

[havocmom]

Montana's National Guard's fleet of UH-60 are back in service here, where our National Guard is supposed to be, guarding. The 1-189th Aviation Support Battalion, which flew and maintained the helicopters in Iraq, got back in November. The helicopters returned stateside (port in Corpus Christi, Texas) earlier this month. Thirty Montana Guards were sent down to bring the fleet of Hawks home.

We need to celebrate this as a win for Montana's Democratic governor, Brian Schweitzer, who took it to DC last summer because those helicopters would be critical if we had another bad fire season up here.
(For some background on Governor Schweitzer's fight to get the helicopters back in our state where they could be critical to fire fighting:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=163x363 )

We lucked out this past summer and didn't have devastating fires like the several previous summers. Left with only ONE helicopter for this, the fourth largest state in the nation, fire fighting would have been seriously hampered if not damned near impossible.

Those things can scoop a lot of water to drop, keeping firefighters and citizens alive on the ground as they go toe to toe with flames. Had it not been for the work done by our Hawks and their great pilots a couple years back, some of my neighbors would have been homeless or dead! Elderly couples, going days with no sleep, literally with their backs against their walls throwing buckets of water at flames... Without the backup of water drops from the Hawks, well, there would have been a lot of memorial services here instead of the early celebration of genuine thanksgiving!

The National Guard and it's equipment is supposed to be doing just that: Guarding our nation. It is essential for help in emergencies and disasters. Glad we have a Governor who addressed that issue and inspired other governors to do the same. We are NOT safer when our Guard is overseas because of a war for profit and the GOP's wishes to avoid taking the heat for a draft to assure troop levels. The Guard is supposed to be home!

Glad part of our's made it back. May your state's Guard be as lucky. Make some noise about it. Make your state government hear you and feel some heat so they will take it to DC too.

To those in the 1-189th Aviation Support Battalion, glad you are home. That picture of your birds coming into Helena was a sight for sore eyes!

[Rainscents]

1. I really like this governor!

He keeps his words!